Secret Alchemist, a perfume brand backed by actor Samantha Ruth, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Unilever Ventures with participation from DSG Consumer Partners.
The round was a mix of primary and secondary capital, of which $2.5 million was primary capital.
Earlier, in October 2024, Secret Alchemist raised $500K in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), and actress Samantha Prabhu joined as a co-founder.
The fresh funds raised will be used to expand the brand’s clean fragrance portfolio, strengthen formulation depth and R&D capabilities, and build leadership and core teams. Secret Alchemist will also invest in scaling brand presence and distribution as it continues to build an India-first brand with global ambitions.
Founded in 2022 by Ankita Thadani, Akash Valia, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Secret Alchemist is a clean perfume and wellness brand that offers a range of fragrances and personal care products rooted in aromatherapy principles and essential oils. The brand emphasizes transparency, sustainability, and the use of toxin-free, IFRA-certified ingredients.
The brand aims to bridge the gap between ancient wellness solutions and contemporary perfumery, creating emotion-driven scents designed to support mood and well-being.
It blends the science of aromatherapy with contemporary perfumery to create lifestyle-led, emotion-driven clean fragrances bridging wellness, scent, and self-expression.
Ankita Thadani, Co-Founder of Secret Alchemist, said, “Globally, ‘clean’ has become a baseline in beauty and personal care, and fragrance is naturally moving in that direction. With Secret Alchemist, our focus is on building perfumes that are ingredient-led, well-formulated, and uncompromising on quality. We are among the first in India to openly publish full ingredient and allergen disclosures in perfumery, because for us, clean means being honest. This investment allows us to deepen product innovation and strengthen our R&D capabilities in line with that belief.”
Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Co-Founder of Secret Alchemist, said, “As Secret Alchemist evolves, this feels like the right moment for us. It gives us the opportunity to build more deeply on what matters: clean ingredients, thoughtful formulations, and fragrances people genuinely enjoy using every day.”
Akash Valia, Co-Founder of Secret Alchemist, said, “Clean fragrance is seeing strong traction globally, and India is ready for brands built with that mindset from day one. This fundraise allows us to scale Secret Alchemist as a fragrance-first, ingredient-led clean perfume brand while strengthening distribution and brand presence and eventually bringing Indian perfumes to the global market.”
Pawan Chaturvedi, Partner & Head of Asia at Unilever Ventures, said, “We are delighted to partner with Secret Alchemist as it builds one of India’s first clean, fragrance indie brands. Clean has already become a norm in beauty globally, and we are beginning to see fragrance follow the same trajectory, and Secret Alchemist is well-positioned to lead this emerging category in India.”
Hariharan Premkumar, MD & Head of India at DSG Consumer Partners, said, “We have believed in the clean fragrances opportunity for many years. With Secret Alchemist, we found a strong founding team in Ankita and Akash with deep product capabilities. They are building high-quality fragrances at attractive price points. The brand is backed by a celebrity founder who is not just lending her name but is a power user and deeply involved in building the product. Given the significant under-penetration of the fragrances category in India, we are highly bullish on the long-term potential of the brand and the category.”
